Service-Oriented Architecture Could Make Federal IT Budgets Easier to Manage

The budget is “the number one challenge facing federal network decision makers,” Suss said. In eight years, the U.S. government could lose its AAA credit rating, he said: “Not just this year, but for the next decade, the federal government will be operating under extreme budget pressure.” Near term, agencies will cut costs by consolidating servers, data centers, help desks and networks, he said. But many agencies have been cutting “for years, and there’s only so much cost savings that agencies can achieve.”

Until now, head-count limits have meant hiring contract workers, Suss said. But that’s less attractive politically, he said. “Congress has become increasingly concerned about contractors performing inherently governmental functions,” he said. The next president is “likely to jump on the anti- staff augmentation bandwagon,” he added.

“The network may be the answer,” Suss said. Service- oriented architecture (SOA), Web services and other emerging network technologies “may finally allow the government to use their networks to achieve a quantum leap in operational efficiency and effectiveness,” he said. SOA is a network design that manages network usage by reference to sets of related services. It and related technology can cut costs and reduce demands on federal staff, he said. And SOA can “help to end today’s five- to ten-year acquisition cycles that place government technologies in suspended animation while three to six new generations of commercial marketplace technologies speed by, leaving federal and military users trapped with expensive out of date tools and associated operational inefficiencies,” he said.

But SOA and related technologies may not be “ready for prime time,” Suss said. Better interoperability standards are needed to boost Web services competition, which will keep prices low and quality high, he said. Better security will cut government costs, he said. Now the government often buys, installs and manages mirror versions of commercial Web applications on protected networks, “doubling” work and costs, he said. Better security could calm fears related to using the Web for government applications, he said.

GSA Says Networx Moving Along

Agencies have 10 contracts with operators via Networx, said Karl Krumbholz, director of the General Service Administration’s Network Services Programs Office. Eight agreements were signed without GSA help, he said. Agencies have sent 20 work requests to the GSA, which has finished working on two, with 10 in review. Operators are reviewing five GSA-approved offers. And agencies are reviewing three operator responses.

The GSA expects Level 3 to finish operations support systems testing for the Networx Enterprise contract Friday. Sprint Nextel will finish March 4, Krumbholz said. Qwest, AT&T and Verizon had completed testing by December, he said. They finished OSS testing for Networx Universal in September, he added.

The Office of Management and Budget’s Trusted Internet Connection effort is a “necessary challenge” for GSA that will enhance management of the IP network environment, said John Johnson, GSA assistant commissioner for Integrated Technology Services. The OMB said last November that the government must cut to 50 its trusted Internet connections.

Rollout of the much-delayed GSA Alliant contract is “imminent,” said Johnson. Agencies were supposed to be able to buy IT services under the $50 billion, 10-year contract last fall, but a protest and suit by companies that didn’t get the Alliant award has delayed the contract’s availability.

The GSA is working with industry and others on a “green IT” effort that will encourage data center energy efficiency. Data centers account for 1.5 percent of U.S. energy use, said Johnson. The GSA “needs to play a leadership role,” he said. GSA is working on determining the metrics for a system similar to Energy Star ratings, he said.

“We don’t think of ourselves as a telephone company,” Johnson said. “We see ourselves as being much, much more than that.” The GSA has changed its approach to selling network services, offering multiple delivery channels and helping agencies make decisions to serve their specific needs, Johnson said. If, for example, a customer decides Networx isn’t the best way to meet its needs, the GSA will help direct it to another channel or “mix and match” contracts, he said.